A/N: You know, the PJO movies are actually fanfictions. Definition: "fiction written by a fan of, and featuring characters from, a particular TV series, movie, etc." They (the producers) took the cast and setting of the book, along with a few of the events, then changed them in a whole bunch of ways until it isn't the original story anymore. So, it's a fanfiction.

Chapter 9- Greco-Roman Games: Day One


Percy's POV

"So, Perseus, what is this?" Miranda tossed the white sheath over, which I caught, "And I would suggest you find a better hiding place for something that dangerous to the plan than under a bed."

I flipped the sheath in my hand, now holding it by the narrow end, "Yeah, you're probably right. Sign up for any competitions?"

"Knives." Miranda replied, "I will be spending much of my time endearing myself to a certain political family."

"Ah, for your Bureaucracy job? How are you planning to do it?"

Miranda smiled, exposing her perfect teeth, "Why, by approaching the patriarch, of course. He has another daughter, and that one has the reputation of drinking and sleeping around. The man would disown her, but for the fact that if he did, his line would end, as his wife died four years ago."

"Adoption?" At my question, Miranda nodded, "What can I say? Great minds think alike."

"That they do." Miranda acknowledged, "The "Guardian" of the Hunt is in the Sword-Fighting tournament only, and as I believe I am correct in guessing this is the sheath of the Sword of Light. . ."

"I could use it to get to Artemis, and get exactly who and what this "Guardian" is." I finished, "And maybe have a chat with that empousa, Elysia. Good idea."

"Did you expect it not to be? And must you have signed up for Swimming?" Miranda asked, sounding upset, but I knew it wasn't serious, "Now those of my gender are going to be gawking at you like fools."

I shrugged, chuckling, "That's what most of them are, along with many in my gender as well."

"Have a good rest, Perseus, I would hate for you to look even more incompetent as usual come the first day of the games." Miranda said, a mocking smirk adorning her flawless features.

"And I would hate to disappoint you, Ms. Lytvyn." I bowed as she left the room, then took the sheath in my hands again. I'll give a sheath to that "Guardian", but I'd be an idiot to give him the original.


Percy's POV

"Daedalus?!" I called, standing in a building that was marked in Machiavelli's journal as his abode.

Daedalus looked exactly like Quintus did, with sandy hair and a well-muscled body, "Proctor. I didn't expect to see you here."

"Let's dispense with the pleasantries -or unpleasantries- and get down to business." I tossed him the sheath, "I need you to make a replica of this as soon as possible."

Daedalus looked over it with an obviously practiced eye, "Including the effects of carrying this sheath?"

I knew there was something on the sheath. "No, Daedalus, although I would appreciate knowing what those effects are. Oh, and I need you to put something else on the copy. . ."

I told him what I wanted, and he nodded, "I'll have it to you by tomorrow afternoon."

"Very well." I respectfully nodded back to him before shadow-traveling back to the overworld, for lack of a better term of the surface.

It was well past curfew, but I didn't mind. The cleaning harpies would attack campers, not the lithe black wolf that was sneaking towards Cabin Eight. Almost as soon as it was in eyesight, I noticed a figure in black in a tree nearby, keeping watch. Good, they aren't completely incompetent. If they let their guard down in a camp full of the people who mob-beat them, I might've taken the opportunity to reduce their numbers to ten once again.

Knowing that while I might be able to win a fight between him and I, either outcome would result in questions beings asked about why I was out after curfew. Besides, he has either the audacity or confidence -and I'm pretty sure it's the latter- to disrespect Zeus.

My work wasn't done yet, leading me back down to the Underworld, into Asphodel. According to Machiavelli, a certain son of Hermes spent his time brawling with other people who fought just to keep themselves from forgetting who they were in the endless plains of Asphodel. They were easy to find, a ring of men and women shouting as Luke, coincidentally, was fighting a burly older women

I ambushed him after he won and left the ring, "Luke Castellan, I need a word."

His eyes narrowed as I led him away, but he couldn't refuse. "What?"

Surprisingly -or rather, unexpectedly- I didn't feel any animosity towards Luke at all. One of the intentional parts of the re-birth was wiping the slate in terms of a Proctor's prior feeling to a person, "I need know anything you do about Percy Jackson's first year at Camp Half-Blood."

Luke sneered, looking every bit the enemy he used to be, "I took an oath on the Styx-"

"Rendered irrelevant by death." I cut him off, "I command you, on the authority of the Proctor of Judgment with the power of the Judges, to tell me."

"Well, then, we'd better sit down, 'cause it's quite a tale." Luke replied, gesturing to the dirt ground. "You see, Percy's first quest wasn't all it was cracked up to be. In fact, Chiron put the guy in a tough place. He should've died on that quest, actually."

"Go on."

"If you insist. You see, Chiron was playing a very dangerous game. That old horse knew the tensions between the Big Three were ratcheting up, so he told me to steal the Bolt and the Helm, knowing that Poseidon had a son that would be turning eleven soon. Chiron even went to Percy's school to make sure he got to camp in one piece. Then, after he had me summon that hellhound to force Poseidon to claim Percy, he sent Percy on a quest." Luke sighed.

"Who in their right mind would send a completely new camper on a quest to retrieve two of the most powerful items in existence, which had to have been stolen by someone with more enough cunning or strength to kill a trio of uppity campers?" Luke paused to take a breath, "Kronos had helped me steal the Bolt and Helm in the first place, although I didn't know until later. Going back to his quest, I didn't stay at camp. Instead, by Chiron's orders, I made the quest easier for Percy. -throwing the Furies off his trail after the bus incident, making sure that Enchida would let him escape, etc."

I raised an eyebrow. This could shed a lot more light on things I didn't have an answer to.

"They crossed the USA pretty easily, compared to my quest, and escaped the Underworld using the pearls I had charmed that nymph into giving them. Then, they came upon Ares, which was where my real contribution came in. The Bolt and Helm that I gave to Ares? They were both covered in poison, weakening Ares enough that Percy could beat him." Luke's eyes met my own.

"Can you see how brilliant Chiron's plan was? Imagine, the son of Poseidon dying valiantly in battle to retrieve the symbols of Zeus' and Hades' power. The culprit, Ares, already identified and easily hunted down, the Bolt and Helm returned to their owners, and everything's mended between the Big Three. That was if Percy died, which he didn't. You see, Chiron fully expected him to die, poisoning Ares was my own idea. I liked the kid back then, can't fault me for that. Anyways, if Percy lived or died there, the result would still be what Chiron hoped for. That manipulative old horse played all the sides there, and was completely willing to let someone die for the greater good of the gods. So, when Kronos spoke to me, I remembered Halcyon Green, and listened."

I whistled, "Quite a story."

Luke shrugged, "I thought so too. Pity no one listens."

"Well, Mr. Castellan, as enlightening as this conversation was, I need to leave and maybe see a certain centaur thrown out of Camp Half-Blood." I clapped Luke on the shoulder before shadow-traveling back to my room in the Nemesis Cabin and falling asleep. Tomorrow would be a long day. . .


Percy's POV

The first thing I did in the morning was procure myself a set of Imperial Golden Roman equipment, using less than savory methods to do so. The Armory's not gonna miss them. They have plenty of this stuff. The set was a big, rectangular Legionnaire's shield, a gladius, a pugio, and a pila, putting them all in my room at the Nemesis Cabin. Perfect. The next thing I did was check on Daedalus, who said he'd have in done in a few hours. Also on schedule. Lastly, I went and got myself a black swimsuit. I hadn't swam in about half a year now, and my old swimsuit . . . well, there wasn't much left of it when the sea-serpent threw it up.

Once that was done, I headed for breakfast, where I -as usual, now- was the first to arrive, gathering a bowl of cereal, some toast, some more cereal, and a banana. Plenty of carbs for a day that would take a whole lot of energy. The campers filtered in later, along with most of the Romans, including Jason. The older Senators didn't show, then the Hunt arrived as one huge pack, with Artemis and the man in the lead. Artemis sat at the head of Cabin Eight's table, with the Hunters fanning out on either side and the man leaning up against a pillar at the edge of the Pavilion. Curiously, they all looked at the man, who sighed and said, "What do you want?"

Orders were instantly heaped upon him by the Hunters, and even Artemis, and their requested food appeared right in front of them. Hmm. The only goddess I've seen who has something like that power is Hestia, and she's a maiden goddess. A blessing of some kind?

Seeing the other campers staring at him, I decided to have a little fun with the so-called "Guardian of the Hunt", who had summoned a piece of pizza -for breakfast- and started eating it, only for the slice to disappear. I had shadow-traveled it into the fire in the Nemesis, sending a message to her while I did it. Frowning, there was a flash of fire as the man summoned another slice, only to have it disappear as well. These incidents were not lost on the campers, who started laughing at him as the man tried yet a third time to eat some pizza. Even some of the Hunters were laughing at him now, although Artemis had her eyes narrowed, looking around.

I nudged Miranda, who turned to face me, "Reminds me of Tantalus."

Miranda smiled as she glanced at the eclipse symbol in my right palm, obviously knowing what was going on, "Indeed, although Tantalus' reputation could not have gotten any lower, according to the stories I have heard."

I snorted with laughter, "That's true. Oh, I think the competition -and since you have to disassociate yourself with me- might interfere with our meetings."

Miranda nodded, "A shame. I enjoyed them."

Taking a break from shadow-traveling the man's pizza -and knowing that he was a laughing stock by now- I let him eat his pizza. There were no traces that I was involved in any way -after all, a slice of pizza didn't look like it was shadow-traveling, even if it was going through it's own shadow. Once the man finished the slice and summoned another, I did the same thing, sending it to the fire yet again, and the man scowled before just leaning there, keeping watch over the Hunters.

Well, well, he's at least smart enough not to complain or try again. I wonder if he's in any competitions? For these five days, there weren't any cabin activities. Instead, everyone watched the competitions, Swimming being held first. Most of the crowd here headed down to the lake, where several lines of rope and plastic stretched across a small portion of it, six lanes in all. Quickly changing so that the swimsuit was under my black jeans and bomber jacket, I headed out for the lake as well.

The first six contenders were Zoe, three more Greeks, and two Romans I didn't recognize. Just seeing her reminded me that she still thought I was a slave to Minos, which I wasn't anymore. Zoe won, probably because of her natural affinity for water -daughter of Pleione and all that. I joined the other contenders, maybe a dozen campers and an equal number of Romans. Yeah, like a Hunter would ever get into something so indecent as a swimsuit. Another round, with a son of Mars winning saw me standing on the shore, ready to dive in. I could sense my muscles gaining some female attention -all for the better- before a conch called, the signal to start.

Lunging through the water like a knife through butter, I was as fast as I could be while cheating just a tiny bit, using the energy being immersed in water gave me to go just that little bit faster. I was half-way across the portion of the lake they were using as a course before I knew it, but I didn't see any of my progress, instead still going for all I was worth until I felt the sand under my feet again, climbing out of the water and tamping down on my powers so that I stayed wet. There were some cheers for me, surprisingly, as I sat and waited for the other competitors in this round

A few seconds after I climbed out, a daughter of Venus did the same, claiming second place in this race. Sylvia, I think.

I nodded respectfully to her, as she stood where her lane ended, and she nodded back as a son of Hermes climbed out, in third place. Fourth and fifth were a legacy daughter of Apollo and a son of Ares who had apparently relied on strength to get him through the water. Chiron trotted up, "And Perseus proceeds to the next round!"

I walked over to where Zoe and a Connor Stoll -who won the round after Zoe- standing at the side. As I approached, Zoe deliberately switched sides with Connor so that he would be between Zoe and I. The braying of a conch sent the last five swimmers into the water, a young women opening up a gap between herself and everyone else, getting to the opposite shore a few seconds faster than her competition. Chiron clopped up, as he had done with the past three winner, "And Melissa is the victor!"

She took her place next to Zoe while Chiron turned to the audience, which was most of Camp Half-Blood, the Romans, and the Hunt. "Tomorrow, the last two contenders in the Final will be decided!"

A crowd of campers led the way to the appropriately wide-open space with the Hunt following, with the quartet of Senators taking up the rear while looking pleased at the performance so far. Good. If they liked the Swimming, they probably noticed me. Connor and the other girl went with the campers while I had grabbed Zoe's arm and forced her to stay, "Zoe, I'm not his servant anymore."

Zoe snorted, "I am surprised that Minos would let you live."

I sighed, shaking my head, "Zoe, if I didn't fight them, they would've caught up with you. And they would've killed you rather than keep you alive like they did me. But Minos' dead, Zoe. I killed him."

"Of course he is dead, thy master has been dead for thousands of years."

I face-palmed, "Now you're just being difficult, Zoe. I swear, on the Styx, that Minos doesn't dictate my actions anymore."

"Thou art a werewolf. Oaths on the Styx do not bind thee, and we both know it." Zoe pointed out.

"Fine then, Miss Difficult, why haven't I killed you yet?" I asked, knowing it was a question she couldn't answer, "If the Judges ordered me to, you know I'd refuse. You know they'd whip me until I complied. In this plan, there are people who could take your place."

We were both getting dressed now, putting shirts and jeans over our swimwear, my touch was everything needed to be dry.

"They do not have Water." Zoe stated, patted her pocket only to find that it was empty.

"You don't either." To prove my point, I twirled the pen through the air, "Now I have Anaklusmos, and you have no bargaining chips. I don't want to kill you, and I'm not going to, whatever you might think. Minos, Read, and Machiavelli? They're all gone, Zoe, they aren't going to hurt you or me any longer. In fact, I'm the one who's going to appoint new Judges, and I know I can kill them."

"I will believe thee if thee tells me how." Zoe looked at me skeptically, as if almost expecting me to lie.

"Same way you kill someone who's alive." I shrugged, "Stygian Iron works, and I'd imagine Celestial Bronze could work as well. Fists don't, though. D'you believe me now? And did I ever do anything to lose your trust?"

"No." Zoe admitted, "Thou did not do anything to lose my trust, although thy masters did. I believe thee now."

I checked my watch, "Well, good, 'cause the Knife-Fighting starts in a few minutes, and I'm one of them.

"How many are thou a part of?" Zoe asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Five. We'd better get going." Concentrating, I summoned the pugio I stole earlier as I jogged towards the Amphitheater, which was serving as the arena for most of the duel-style competitions. There were a few dozen other competitors, a lot more than the twenty that showed up for Swimming.

Miranda was a few meters away from me, but I knew better than to try to get her attention- nothing was worth even the possibility of putting the plan in jeopardy. It was split pretty evenly between Greeks and Romans, with six Hunters as well.

"Beatris and Alex." Chiron called, making a Hunter and a son of Athena enter the Amphitheater. We had a good view of the stage from where we were, "First blood from the abdomen, BEGIN!"

The Hunter leapt forward, drawing her twin hunting knives as she did so. Alex rolled to the side, but the Hunter was to fast, spinning and cutting the camper. The match ended when the Hunter held up the blade of one of her knives, and everyone saw red on it. "The match concludes with Beatris as the victor!"

There was cheering at her skills from most of the audience, but the quartet of Senators didn't cheer or even clap. The next match was a son of Ares against a daughter of Mars, this time with the Greek emerging triumphant. The matches went on for about two hours, with about an even split between Greeks and Romans over who proceeded to the next round of matches. Three of the Hunters had gotten eliminated, but Pheobe joined Beatris in going on.

"The last match of the day is Miranda versus Thalia!" Chiron called, causing the two people in question to stride through the doors and onto the stage, taking their positions, "First blood from the abdomen, BEGIN!"

Thalia lunged forward rather predictably, but Miranda's dagger -now long and thick- deflected one of Thalia's knives to the side while Miranda sidestepped the other. Thalia spun, lighting fast to block Miranda's return slice, then went on the offensive. A flurry of quick blows forced Miranda to step back while blocking or dodging every one, her eyes narrowing as she watched the Hunter. I could see a few openings in Thalia's offense, but Miranda didn't take them, instead content to wait. When Miranda finally decided to act, it was almost to fast to catch: She ducked a horizontal slash from Thalia before catching a vertical knife on her own, before twisting the dagger she was carrying downward, neatly relieving Thalia of one of her hunting knives. But that was all Miranda needed, 'cause few seconds after, Miranda's knife flashed down, easily cutting through Thalia's Hunter uniform and slicing down her chest.

"Miranda wins!" The crowd -including one of the Senators, this time- clapped at what was the closest match today. There were still about a dozen of us who hadn't fought yet, but that'd happen tomorrow. "The next event is Archery, which is being held fifteen minutes from now at a building three down from here."

I wanted so badly to congratulate Miranda on her victory, but it was far to risky out here in the open, especially with those four Senators watching. If they know we're friends, and I enter the Senate, she'll be at the top of their shit-list. Or kill-list.

For the first time today, I was watching a competition instead of taking part in it, and a good thing too. Jeanne had managed to make me competent with a bow, but when I saw the Hunters shoot . . . . wow. I wouldn't looked good to the Senators if I used a bow -entirely an non-Roman weapon- and lost horribly with it. To my surprise, it was a Roman who was the first camper to beat a Hunter: Frank Zhang. The Archery Range was set up with seven lanes, which meant seven archers would shoot at a time. Chiron would inspect the targets, and proclaim a winner of those seven, then the next seven took the first one's places. This went on for a number of matches, with three Greeks, three Romans, and a Hunter taking part in each one. Needless to say, the Hunter won all of them except for the one that Frank was in. The problem was, that left ten Hunters and Frank, and there were only seven lanes for the final. Chiron solved that problem, though,

"Tomorrow, four of these competitors will be eliminated, and the final will take place on the last day of the Games. Next is Javelins, which is also held here and starts in five minutes."

Wonder if it'll be like that for all of the finals . . .

I sat there for the five minutes, and watched Miranda in action. She went near her target, one of the Senators, obviously, but not the Consul, and leaned against a wall while pretending to do something meaningless. I got just within earshot as the Senator -a fifty-something man who was somewhat fit, but not especially handsome- noticed her and walked closer.

"Ms. Lytvyn, I feel I must thank you for the stimulating conversation you provided during both the Swimming and Discus events."

"Why, Mr. Scott, a Tribune such as yourself hardly needs to thank anyone." Miranda replied, smiling easily at him. I knew how beautiful that smile, and also how treacherous it was.

The Senator, though, didn't have the knowledge I did about Miranda, "My daughter seems to think I need to thank her every time she returns home not inebriated or high."

"That is hardly appropriate behavior for a young lady!" Miranda protested, "You are her father. If I was your daughter, you would certainly have my respect."

The Tribune sighed, "If only my own daughter saw me as you do. . ."

"I must ask, why is she still your daughter?" Miranda asked. Walking a dangerous line, there. You'd better say explain it well. "I mean no offense, merely that I would not trust someone who appears to be drunk more often than not with a great deal of money."

"What else can I do?" The Senator threw up his hands in exasperation, "She's the last of the line, and it would dishonor her mother's memory to marry again. I will never disrespect my late wife."

"Surely there is a policy for adoption in New Rome?" Miranda prodded, "There must be someone more suitable to handle your fortune then your daughter."

"Hmm, that does seem like an option I've missed. . . . although, it would be hard to find an orphan as graceful as yourself, one who would be able to handle a Senator's lifestyle."

"I am an orphan, Mr. Scott." Miranda said, "There simply must be others who would fit your requirements."

Oh, you're clever. I already knew that, but still, you made yourself a candidate for his adoption, without making it seem like you were trying for that position. The Senator was interested in her now, "So, Miranda, what do you do when you're not here?"

Miranda shrugged self-deprecatingly, "I go to the New Rome college in the winter."

"Really?" The Senator was even more interested now, eyeing Miranda up and down, as if assessing her "What courses do you take?"

"Political Science Major, with every class that is a part of that Major, along with Minoring in Government." Miranda replied, "I thought I might be able to get a job in the Bureaucracy."

"With all those reforms my party's passing, there'll be plenty of positions." Mr. Wilbur replied, chuckling, "We Freethinkers always do what's best for the Romans, and that includes creating new jobs."

Does it also include making the government so deep in debt that they won't get out of it in a few centuries? Miranda looked thoughtful, but I knew it was a facade, "What do the Freethinkers do? I have heard stories, and it seems like you do a lot of good for the whole of New Rome."

"We do many things. . ."

This trailed off into a lengthy lecture of the Freethinker's philosophy, which I half-listened to as I watched the Javelin-Throwing contest. The Hunt, again, were prominent in this competition, but was faced with stiff resistance from the Romans with their pilas and the Greeks, for whom learning to throw javelins was mandatory. This lead to a fairly even split of Greeks, Romans, and Hunters. The Senators didn't seem very interested, which I could relate to. Where was the fun in watching a bunch of sticks get embedded in some straw? There isn't that much space for variation, not like in fighting with a weapon or wrestling.

Soon enough, due to a noticeable lack of competitors, their numbers had been whittled down enough for a finale. Chiron clomped his hoof on the floor, gaining everyone's attention, "The last competition to be held today is Sword-Fighting, which we return to the Amphitheater for in fifteen minutes."

I was one of the last three to leave the Archery Range, the other two being Miranda and the Tribune, who were still talking when I walked out. Once out of sight, I shadow-traveled back to the Nemesis Cabin, grabbing the Legionnaire's shield and gladius. Lastly, I pulled on a pair of black leather gloves to hide the eclipse that adorned my right palm- I couldn't have Artemis see my right hand until later tonight. Glancing at my watch, I saw it was five thirty-seven, which meant I had eight minutes to get to the Amphitheater. No sense in wasting time. I left the Nemesis Cabin, hoping to be one of the first competitors to get to the Amphitheater, which I was. Only a dozen were there before me, and only four of interest: Cameron, Jason, Pheobe, and the Guardian. Last time, you caught me by surprise with Light. This time, I'll beat you.

Glancing down at the Guardian's waist, I saw he was going to use Light for the competition. He wouldn't be able to use it's powers, as that would be cheating, but it was still a fine blade. I couldn't match his Sword with Shadow, sadly, as Artemis believes I hid it away, and it was crucial for her to keep believing that I didn't have it.

More people started arriving after me, and by the time the fifteen minutes were up, there were probably over fifty competitors. Figures this would be the most popular.

"The first match of this round is Perseus against Dakota." Chiron announced. I strode in with the Centurion right next to me. I had left my jacket back in my room, leaving me in a skin-tight black shirt that clearly defined my muscles and black jeans what wouldn't inhibit movement. Dressed to impress, as it were.

After Dakota and I took up our ready positions, which practically mirrored each other, Chiron spoke again, "Until one is unable to continue, BEGIN!"

Dakota and I circled each other, both wielding the same weapons: A gladius and a Legionnaire's shield. I knew how he would fight, and he knew how I would, but I had an edge on him in skill, and took the offensive. My initial stab was blocked by the heavy rectangular shield Dakota had on his left arm. His return stab missed as I sidestepped to his right, lunging in for a shield bash, which knocked the Centurion back a few paces. Dakota came back from it quickly, however, attacking me again.

The guy was good, using a mix of Greek and Roman fighting techniques while I responded with pure Roman. It took a bit longer to defeat Dakota than I would've liked, but I needed to get the Senators curious in me. I had to beat him as a Roman, not as a kinda-Roman, kinda-Greek, guy that also used a disturbing mix of techniques from across the world and across time -another advantage: All great sword-masters died eventually. The match ended when I used my gladius to lever Dakota's shield away, then use my own shield to smash him in the face and leave him unconscious. After guaranteeing the Centurion was unconscious, I bowed low to the Senators.

"Perseus is the victor!" Chiron proclaimed to much applause, even from the Consul and his friends. Good, I'll need that interest.

I headed into the stands to watch the next round, which was a son of Hermes against a daughter of Mars, which the Hermes guy won. About eleven matches in, it was the "Guardian" versus Cameron. I knew how good Carmon was, he didn't live through the two wars by being bad with a sword. But the man was far better then him. They both wielded hypaspist's shields, with Cameron wielding a short sword while the man had Light in an easy grip. The fight lasted a few minutes at most, with the veteran of two wars being figuratively torn apart by the "Guardian", who I suspected was a veteran of the two wars as well. Jason easily beat his opponent, a son of Athena, along with Pheobe, who was against a daughter of Mercury. I'll need to be careful with them. Jason knows Roman fighting styles back-to-front, so he'd know how to counter them. That man matched me when he had Light and I had Shadow, but I think have an edge in experience and endurance. Pheobe, I should be able to beat unless something really unexpected happens.

When I checked my watch again, it was seven thirty, the nymphs having brought dinner out an hour again. Two dozen matches later, there were finally no more competitors, letting Chiron make an announcement, "The victors will duel tomorrow at the same time! That is the last event of the day!"

Turning away, I headed back for the Nemesis Cabin, only to spot Sasha heading for the forest. Jogging, I caught her arm, "You never told how you got in, my serpent."

"It is-s-s s-s-simple, mas-ster." Sasha hissed, "No god claimed me, s-so I live in Hermes-s-s."

"Hmph. Could be useful." Summoning Shadow to my hand, I held it out to Sasha, "Take it, I have something to do."

Sasha didn't question the order, taking the Sword and claiming the eclipse while it disappeared from my palm. Immediately after the mark disappeared, I felt somewhat weaker, but that would have to wait. I ran into a shadow, coming out inside of Daedalus' home. "Daedalus?"

"Ah, Proctor, your sheath is ready." Daedalus picked up a pair of white sheathes that were indistinguishable from each other. "The original is in my left hand. While holding the original, you cannot lose blood, but are still susceptible to bruises and broken bones. By your orders, the copy does not have the same ability."

Nodding, I took them both before shadow-traveling up to my Nemesis room. I left the original on the bed -along with my gloves- and approached Cabin Eight once I left the Nemesis Cabin. The Guardian, of course, stopped me, "What do you want?"

I held up my hands in surrender, "I have information Artemis will want to hear. And I have a gift that Artemis will want to see. Look, I swear on the Styx this is important."

The Guardian believed me -apparently he didn't know I was a werewolf- before he spoke again, "I don't think I ever thanked you for keeping the Hunt safe here."

I shrugged, "They scratched my back, I returned the favor."

The Guardian opened the door to Cabin Eight, letting me go in first. I thought he was just being nice before I felt the prick of something sharp and pointy in my back, "Keep going."

I obeyed the order and walked to the door, which the Guardian knocked on, "Got a visitor, Arty!"

"Don't. Call. Me. Arty!" Artemis growled, opening the door, "Tristan?"

"Lady Artemis." I replied, doing a half-bow.

"At least one male has respect." Artemis grumbled, letting us in.

"He said he has a gift you'd want to see and information you'd want to hear."

"Well, why did you not say so, Tristan?" Artemis asked.

"It is disrespectful to speak without being spoken to by the Lady of the Hunt." I replied, "This is the gift."

I held up the sheath, turning to the Guardian, "I believe this is the sheath of Light. I thought it would be best to approach bearing gifts."

Artemis studied it, nodding, "It is, Declan."

Declan, Knew it! Well, fine, I didn't, but I had an idea. Declan took the sheath, before taking Light from another sheath -that one not nearly as orient- and slid it into the sheath that was meant for the sword, "Thanks."

"You're welcome, Mr. Ross." I replied, grinning at him before turning back to Artemis, "You won't like the info, ma'am, so please don't kill me once you see it."

"Just tell me, male. It is hard enough to tolerate one of your kind here without killing you, but you have helped my Hunt and quite possibly saved their lives." Artemis stated, "That being said, I can still quite easily gut you."

"I have no doubt of that, Lady Artemis." I held up my right hand, showing Artemis the palm, "As you can see, there isn't an eclipse there, which means Shadow has a new owner."

"That reminds me, you broke the agreement when you used it to fight Declan here." There was a flash of motion, then Artemis had a pair of knives in her hands, "Why?"

"I would rather not let someone who attacked me do the same to the Hunters." I shrugged, "Shadow evened the odds, as Declan here wielded Light."

"Where did you hide the blade, male?" Artemis demanded, steel entering her voice as she slipped into interrogation mode.

"Up north, ma'am, inside the meanest place I could think of." I shrugged, "A maze with a snake in it. A huge snake, drakon-sized and vicious. Green scales, quick as a blink, fangs the size of swords."

Artemis hissed something that sounded like "Sasha" and something like "clueless, idiot males", then stood, "Declan, get him out of here then come to Olympus. We might have a job to do."

"Sure thing, Moonbeam."

"You'll pay for that when I get back." Artemis flashed away, leaving Declan to grab me by my arm and drag me outside. Not that it took much effort- my job was done here.

Walking around apparently randomly, I quickly tracked down Sasha and reclaimed Shadow. From there, I went back to my room in the Nemesis Cabin. Now out of sight, I shadow-traveled to the Underworld. I had to do a lot of training before I could sleep.


Percy's POV

Groaning, I got up to see the clock read four thirty-seven. I had slept late, sure, but it was still early enough for my to do my work. I ran through a list of outfits in my head, settling on a black cloak with a deep cowl, perfect for hiding my figure and my face. Shadow went into a sheath under the cloak, then I shadow-traveled into Artemis' room in Cabin Eight. That Artemis was sleeping there instead of flying her moon chariot surprised me, but what shocked me was the figure next to her, wearing only a t-shirt and boxers: Declan Ross, the Guardian of the Hunt.

Light was resting against the side of the bed, within easy reach, while Artemis' knives were on the other side. Careful not to make any sudden movements I shadow-traveled the weapons to my feet, then sharpened shadows and set them at the sleeping pair's throats. One thing left: Claim Light. I grabbed the Sword in my left hand, only for burning pain to flare up in my right hand as the eclipsed shimmered into a sunrise, then an eclipse again, as if the two Swords were fighting for control. I dropped Light with a clatter before calling out, "Wake!"

Artemis and Declan jerked awake, nearly impaling themselves on the shadow-spikes as they did. Hands searched frantically for weapons that weren't there. A glance at Declan's right palm showed that he could no longer control Light. So he doesn't have Light, and neither do I.

"Tell me the history of the "Guardian," I started, my voice much lower then it would be normally, "and he will live. I'll even return this fabled Sword to you. Or you can refuse, in which case I'll kill the male and cripple you, Artemis."

To prove my point, I sent the shadows a little closer, digging into their throats. Good, they're disoriented and can't see me very well. That'll play Tartaurus with their nerves. "You have thirty seconds to decide."

"Artemis, get out of here." Declan said in a voice that sounded suspiciously like an order, "I'll die here if I need to."

Artemis disappeared, but I had prepared for that by encasing the entire room in shadow. According to Hermes, this flashing thing was a form of air travel, so it was Artemis' will struggling against mine as the goddess tried to break through the barrier. The sharpened shadows dug further into Declan's throat, coaxing a small groan from him. That sound shattered Artemis' concentration, and she reappeared in the exact spot she had left.

"None of that now, you two." I warned, "You tell me, and you'll live. Proctors do not break their word over such a matter as this."

"I'll never give in to the likes of you." Declan growled, "Try anything you like to me, I won't break."

"Ah, I believe the operative words there are to me." Manipulating the shadows, a thin blade sliced across Artemis' face, drawing golden blood. Then, a sharpened point coalesced over her right eye, "At the rate that point is going, your girlfriend's gonna lose the eye in, oh, forty-five seconds. If I take what remains of the eye, she will never grow it back."

Artemis, to her credit, didn't plead with Declan to tell me, but she was clearly a chink in Declan's armor. After thirty of the seconds ticked by, Artemis let out a small gasp as the point of shadows touched her eyeball, and that was all it took to break Declan, "Stop it, I'll tell you."

The point immediately disappeared, "Well?"

"It all began when I found Light in the woods." Declan started, "The spirit of King Arthur warned me of the Sword's nature, but I still used it. I killed monsters in the forest, and their dust was sucked into the blade. It was throbbed in my hands, like it was alive. The real trouble started in a CTF game, when I accidentally maimed another camper. It wanted to finish the job, kill the camper, but I barely held it back. Since then, I was careful only to harm monsters with the blade, until a bit more than two months ago. I think it's something life seventy-three days ago, now. An Ares camper was ragging on one of the new Hermes, so I swung at him with the flat of my blade, not meaning to draw blood. But I did, and the blood was sucked. A red mist fell over my vision, and I attacked the entire Ares Cabin, trying to kill them all with abandon."

Well, why couldn't you have done a better job of it? It certainly would've made my job easier.

"Artemis recognized the Sword and shot me so I would stop trying to kill campers. It bought her enough time to flash me up to Olympus, where I rounded on her. We fought as Hestia summoned a council. Ares and Athena subdued me soon after they arrived." Declan shrugged, "Zeus was in favor of killing me, but Poseidon and Hades didn't want to kill another after Percy Jackson. Ares, Athena, Hera, Apollo, Hephaestus, Poseidon, Hades, Aphrodite, and to my surprise, Artemis all voted to let me live. Dionysus was asleep, though, so I can't count his lack of voting against him. Anyways, it was Hera's idea to make me the Guardian of the Hunt, saying that if I was responsible for other people, the killing rage of that Sword would be lessened, and that Artemis would be able to contain me should all else fail. Artemis objected, but the vote was passed. I had to sleep next to Artemis, on the floor of her tent, to make sure I didn't sneak off to go on a rampage. I kept having nightmares of killing and blood, and being forced to do all the Hunt's chores didn't help, either. The Hunters were too scared of me to prank me, thankfully, but that didn't stop them from adding to my chores. In fact, I started going insane, cackling at things that didn't exist and killing small animals to feed Light, even a young mortal. It broke one day as I got angry enough to cut Pheobe on the arm with Light. Same thing as before, but luckily, the Hunt are a lot more skilled than any camper, and they brought me down."

This is a lot more interesting than I thought it would be, actually. "Continue."

"The gods were furious, and I was still insane, so I ran away. In my absence, the Olympians, led by Zeus, brought most of the Hunters -excepting Pheobe- to Camp Half-Blood. Pheobe, he took down to the Underworld, to Hades' best torturers. They put Artemis under house arrest on Ortygia, her birthplace. I had run off on a killing spree in the oceans, killing whales, sharks, some huge fish, and sea serpents when a huge one, the Skolopendra, I think swam up. I killed it, but it knocked me unconscious. While sinking through the murk, some Nereids found me and healed my mind for the most part, although they couldn't remove Light's influence." Declan sighed, "I don't know how they kept me alive under the sea, but I think it was the same way the ichthyocentaurs did with those three on the Quest of the Seven."

Quest of the Seven? Seriously?

"From there, I used Light to flash myself to Camp Half-Blood, only to find someone -who I later learned was Tristan- fighting Heracles -and winning- while someone else who I still don't know was turning back a crowd of campers who were trying to attack the Hunters. Tristan Dewolfe tried to prevent me from getting to the Hunters. Light sparked my rage, making me attack Tristan. We both drew blood before he reminded me of why I was there: To get the Hunt back. I led them into the forest before flashing us all away, somewhere safe. From there, I went to the Underworld and got to Pheobe, bringing her back to her sisters. Then, I went to Ortygia to get Artemis back to her Hunt. I "convinced" Zeus that everything was good, then promptly collapsed on Artemis' bed as soon as I got back to camp -I was too exhausted to even make it to the floor where I should've been. Artemis, who was under strict orders not to in any way do anything that could even slightly appear to be even the minutest bit against me, had to sleep next to me on the bed. That night, I didn't have nightmares, and the next day, Light didn't urge me to kill. Time passed, and here we are."

"Good enough." The sharpened shadows that held Artemis and Declan in check vanished. I kicked Light back to the Guardian, then disappeared into a shadow. That was certainly enlightening.


A/N: Currently, I'm debating the possibility of telling all this from Declan's POV in a separate story from this, and doing the same for Jason (he'll become important soon, and I haven't forgotten about Leo, either.) The Sword-wielders (for want of a better word) will be important, along with Clarisse and Cameron (That'll happen a lot latter). Last thing, this is actually a Guardian/Chaos story for Declan, but he can't speak of Chaos to anyone else, so he couldn't have told Percy. (That'll also become important.)

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